CVM Hosts World Rabies Symposium

The NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine is the host institution for the 2012 World Rabies Symposium that brings together local, national, and international experts from human and veterinary medicine and public health to discuss the “One Health” message of how rabies interacts with the environment, wild and domestic animals, and people.

The CVM received host honors for the September 29 symposium, which is sponsored by Merial, in recognition of the CVM International Veterinary Student Association and the Veterinary Student Public Health Corps having the most participants of any U.S. veterinary college in last fall’s Rabies Vaccination Competition.

Organized by Merial and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, the goal of the competition is to raise public awareness of the danger rabies presents while increasing the number of pets vaccinated against the disease.

Symposium topics will include:
• Public Health and the Human-Animal Interface
• Understanding Rabies Pathogenesis to Dispel Myths
• The Global Challenges of Rabies Prevention
• The Impact of Culture on Rabies Prevention
• Local Efforts Are Making a Global Impact in Rabies Prevention
• Involving the Local Community in Rabies
• Rabies in Wildlife: Oral Vaccination Programs
• North Carolina Perspective: Dog Bites and Rabies Prevention
• NCSU Involvement in World Rabies Day and Animal Vaccination Efforts
• Merial’s Involvement with Rabies and World Rabies Day

Speakers will include:
• Julie Casani, MD, Preparedness Director at North Carolina Division of Public Health;
• Rich Chipman, Certified Wildlife Biologist, Rabies Management Coordinator,
National Rabies Management Program, USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Services;
• Peter Costa, MPH, MCHES, Director of Global Communications at Global
Alliance for Rabies Control;
• Daniel Haydon, PhD, BSc, Professor of Population Ecology and Epidemiology,
Director of Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine,
University of Glasgow;
• Jay Levine, DVM, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and
Pathobiology, Department of Population Health and Pathobiology at the North
Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of
Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina
Gillings School of Global Public Health;
• Dean Paul Lunn, BVSc, MS, PhD, MRCVS, Dip, ACVIM, College of Veterinary
Medicine at North Carolina State University;
• Joanne Maki, DVM, MS, PhD, Veterinary Public Health, Global Oral Rabies
Program Manager, Merial Limited;
• Charles Rupprecht, VMD, MS, PhD, Chief of the Rabies Program, U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
• Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH, Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois;
• Carl Williams, DVM, DACVPM, State Public Health Veterinarian for the North Carolina
Division of Public Health;
• North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine Students.